1. Victory in Crisis
Kamalesh Adhikari
Phd Student, Regulatory Institutions Network
The Australian National University, Canberra
kamalesh.adhikari@anu.edu.au

2.  Nepal is a land-locked least developed economy.
 The country is biodiversity rich and agriculture
contributes more than 30 percent to the GDP.
 Agriculture is subsistence-based and households
depending on farming constitute around 80
percent of the total population.
 103 ethnic groups and 59 listed as indigenous
(??).
 Informal seed system dominates the seed market.
 Out of 75 districts, more than 40 districts are
categorized as food insecure (rice, wheat and
maize are major crops)

3.  Nepal is considered as one of the most open
economies in South Asia, but the country’s trade
is still heavily centered in India.
 Nepal opted to become a member of the GATT in
1988 and was an observer of the WTO in 1995.
 It became a WTO member in 2004, following its
accession negotiations initiated in 1998.
 Nepal’s WTO negotiations as well as recent
negotiations for a TIFA with the USA tell us a
story of “a victory that is now in crisis”.

4.  As a WTO member, Nepal is required to implement
the global intellectual property rules of TRIPS but
pre-accession negotiations forced for TRIPS-plus
rules.
 9 August 2003:
▪ A notice to join UPOV was sent (a day before the Nepal
delegation had to move for Geneva.)
▪ The government invited inputs to this issue.
 11 August:
▪ A core meeting of NAFOS was held.
▪ Meeting decided to publish articles and posters, saying
No to UPOV Membership.
 13 August:
▪ Conversation with the Geneva delegation did upset the
CSOs.

5.  13 August:
▪ Press conference was organized to fend off the
pressure to join UPOV.
 15 August:
▪ The final day of the negotiation in Geneva had a
good news:
 "...Nepal would also look at other WIPO and IP related
Conventions, e.g., Geneva Phonograms Convention, UPOV
91, WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and
Phonograms Treaty, in terms of national interest and explore
the possibility of joining them in the future, as appropriate.”
(emphasis in red)
 Nepal would enact a separate free-standing national
legislation for plant variety protection.

6.  With the same text, Nepal became a WTO
member in 2004.
 Consultation and legal efforts were initiated to
enact a sui generis national law for plant variety
protection by 2006.
 A draft law was ready but was not enacted later
due to a WTO decision on TRIPS exemption in
2005.
 “Don’t ask about the road to a village where you
don’t have to go”…
 A case in point is the debate on CSO
representation in UPOV.
 Then surfaced the issue of TIFA with the US.

7.  Bilateral negotiations for the TIFA initiated mainly after the
collapse of garment exports in 2005.
 So far, only the TIFA has been signed but pressures are
mounting regarding the permission for seeds from
Monsanto.
 The USAID involvement on the issue was largely criticized
(No to Monsanto Campaign).
 There is a risk that the government might surrender to
implement strict intellectual property protection for plant
varieties, among others, through bilateral pressures
supported by the tiny private seed business in Nepal.
 Poor countries need to exchange their experiences and
find common strategies to address this issue at
multilateral, bilateral, regional and national levels.

8.  GATT: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1947 which later on
resulted as the WTO in 1995 (GATT 1994 itself still remains as a WTO
agreement dealing with liberalizations of goods trade).
 WTO: World Trade Organization, a rules-based multilateral trading
system that has now more than 150 members
 TRIPS: The WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights, which WTO members must implement as part of single
undertaking.
 TIFA: Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which eventually
leads to a comprehensive bilateral trade and investment agreement with
the USA.
 NAFOS: National Alliance for Food Security in Nepal, a loose network of
civil society groups working on food security in the country.
 UPOV: International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties is known
as a global intellectual property agreement to guarantee breeders’ rights
over new seeds (plant varieties). This agreement was first adopted in
1961 and then revised in 1972, 1978 and 1991. The latest revision is